Photo of the Day, 10/5/09

New Barnes Museum on the Parkway

The Barnes Foundation has finally announced their plans for the new museum which is slated to be built at 21st St. and the Ben Franklin Parkway. Let's put aside the fact that I still have really mixed feelings about the relocation of the Barnes at all. I love its' current setting, in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood, far away from the craziness of the Downtown Philadelphia area.

I can appreciate, however that it's distance from Center City is a hindrance to its' financial longevity. I get that. SO, on to the new location. I do think that the future home of the Barnes collection is in a great spot - if it has to be moved. I love the idea of growing our museum district on the Parkway. AND, the previous occupant of that parcel of land, the Youth Studies Center (a fancy name for a juvenile prison) just didn't fit. I understand the necessity of having such an institution, and I also understand that no one else particularly wants it, but a prison sandwiched between the majestic main branch of the Free Library and the Rodin Museum?

Anyway, the new design was announced, and Inga Saffron commented on it in today's Inqy. I don't have any particularly strong feelings about the building; it was designed to fit in unobtrusively to the landscape, but it's more than unobtrusive - it's kind of blah. I also wonder why there couldn't be more windows. I mean, I think the LAST thing we possibly need is another cement or brick or whatever box sitting along the street. There are some windows, but they don't quite alleviate the sense of being an impenetrable box, nor can it possibly allow that much natural light in to the gallery itself.

Also, I think they could have done so much more in terms of making sure that the new museum fit in cohesively with the existing landmarks on the Parkway. Hello - they're going from this beautiful building designed by Paul Cret to a box. That's it. I'm actually getting more irritated the more that I think about it. By the way, the French architect Paul Cret designed the building that the Barnes collection currently resides in, AND he designed the Rodin museum, which is essentially right next door to the future home of the Barnes collection. Tod Williams and Billie Tsien couldn't come up with anything better that would somehow bridge the gap between the old and new?

Anyway, I think I need one more trip to the "original" Barnes before it closes for good. As most of my friends know, Impressionist Art is one of - if not my favorite - genre, and I just love being in that space. It will be nice that it's closer to where I live; hopefully the new location won't require a reservation made in advance to see the exhibits!

Photos of the Day, 10/3/09

I was on a 'sky' kick yesterday. It was partially the clouds; they were big and fluffy, and looked as if I could just pluck them out of the sky. Later in the day, close to sunset, the clouds were still big and fluffy, but they'd taken on this orange-ish hue that evoked a Maxfield Parrish painting.

The third picture doesn't really go with the first two, but I also love the Philly skyline. This one was taken from S's roof deck. Pretty!

Photo of the Day, 9/30/09

So, I wasn't supposed to retroactively post photos of the day. BUT, since they're my rules, and rules are made to be broken, I'm going to share a couple of my pics from the last week.

I like this picture because it sort of represents how I feel so much of the time. Life is just whizzing by me, and it's all happening so fast that I don't know what's going on, and I don't know what I'm missing. It's all a blur, but sometimes that's ok. It's almost like squinting your eyes to make something familiar or routine look a little different. It lacks definition, but at the same time, you can appreciate the ability to not focus on the details.

Made in Brooklyn

After a last minute change in plans, I skipped Friday's stitch party at Loop, but I did go to one of the knitting classes that author Jared Flood was teaching today! I'm going to dork out for a minute, and say how much fun it was to go to this class! I don't think I'm ever going to become a regular sweater knitter - I don't have the patience for it, nor do I really want to knit items that really scream "I knit this myself!"

Anyway, it was a fun way to spend part of the day. I met a couple of cool people (and I'm keeping these new friends to myself, kiddo), and I learned a new skill, and I got to avoid irritating familial obligations.

I bought his new book of patterns (and had it autographed), and there are a couple of things that I can't wait to try. But that's all for post-Christmas...

P.S. I think I may have come up with the perfect knitted Christmas gift for that certain friend who likes to tease me for my hobby. I can't wait!!

Photo of the day, 10/2/09

So I was a slacker. I skipped the last two days. Wednesday, I was in such a foul mood that I couldn't even think about taking pictures. Yesterday, I actually took quite a few pictures, but I think they all turned out terribly, so there's no point in posting them.

Today's photo is one of my favorite subjects. For some reason, I always enjoy looking at, photographing, and otherwise studying City Hall. Almost every time I go past it, I'm reminded of how beautiful and majestic it is. This pic was taken on my phone from the back seat of a cab as I was on my way home from S's.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Photos of the Day, 9/29/09

I couldn't decide which one to post, so I went with both!



The stairs of the Residence from the ground floor. Anyone who is familiar with Frank Furness' architecture will know that one of his signatures is the use of the exposed 'skeleton' of a building. The steel and rivets used to support the stairs are a focal point of the design, rather than the infrastructure that ends up being hidden.



I just thought this pattern was beautiful - it's a tapestry-like fabric, that evokes the Moroccan tile that I was so obsessed with when I visited there.

Eugénie Grandet, by Honoré de Balzac

I just finished reading Eugénie Grandet, after having started it *months* ago. It came highly recommended, as de Balzac is one of B's favorite authors. Admittedly, I found it a little bit difficult to really get into it, because it moved really slowly, and - more importantly - none of the characters were particularly compelling.

The story is that of this miserable old miser, who has built up his fortune from nothing by a series of wily business deals that were legal, but ethically questionable. He has absolutely no qualms about manipulating those around him to increase his fortune, and many of the other notable residents of his little village are more than happy to BE used and manipulated because they want to marry his daughter Eugénie, and hence his money.

This miserly old man has a devoted wife and daughter who he forces to live in a state of poverty so that he doesn't have to relinquish the slightest bit of his fortune in order to benefit their quality of life. In fact, if his wife and daughter are more important to him than his gold, it is only because of their status as "assets" to him. His wife had her own fortune, to which Eugénie is the sole heir.

Rather than recount the whole story, I'll just direct you, my lovely readers, to a summary, but I think my main issue with the book was that none of the characters were particularly likable.

Monsieur Grandet is a mean, spiteful, manipulative, abusive man, who cares more for his bank balance and the acquisition of money, even to the extent that it endangers the life of his dutiful wife.

Madame Grandet is a meek martyr of a woman, who is incapable of standing up to her husband. While I understand that it's very much a sign of the times (the novel was set in 1817), it's still immensely irritating that she essentially wrings her hands and plays dumb through the entirety of the novel.

Eugénie Grandet is also spineless, and has inherited quite a bit of her mother's martyr-ish-ness. She often denies herself happiness or pleasure both to please her father and to spite him, truly only hurting herself in the end. She ends up inheriting both of her parents' fortunes, but in the end, she's living the exact same life of austerity and isolation that she led in the beginning. She marries for convenience, but is widowed young, and is left with nothing but her inheritance, which (I think) she resents, unlike her father who worshiped his fortune.

I realize that not every story has a happy ending all tied up in a neat little bow, but Eugénie Grandet was depressing from start to finish. AND, there was no character development through the entirety of the book; almost every character was the exact same person at the end of the book as they were in the beginning.

So, that's my "review" of Eugénie Grandet. I'd give it a 2 out of 5 stars. It was well written, but that wasn't enough to get me to actually care about any of the characters.

Photo of the Day, 9/28/09

I've seen this guy tooling around the neighborhood a few times, and I think it's really amusing how he wears a motorcycle helmet rather than a bike helmet. (I know it's a crappy picture; they'll improve, I promise!)

Photo of the Day, 9/27/09

S mentioned that the sky was beautiful after it cleared up from today's storms. I decided to go out and document it, and voila.